Thanks To Olympics Hockey Medal, 5000 Odisha Schools To Get Playgrounds

Bhubaneswar: The Indian Men’s Hockey Team’s medal-winning performance at the Olympics has “inspired” the Odisha government to build playgrounds in 5000 schools across the state.

The aim is to encourage sports and physical fitness among children and youths under the state government’s 5T initiative, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said.

The hockey team’s performance in Tokyo has given further impetus to the vision of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to promote sports from the school-level, he added.

Odisha is also the official sponsor for both the national men’s and women’s hockey teams.

The minister said playgrounds will be developed in 1,000 schools this year. The rest would come up in phases within three years.

“To encourage sports and physical fitness among youths, development of playgrounds has been kept as an integral part of school development plan and it is one of the five components, the other four being smart classrooms, library, laboratory and ambiance, under the 5T programme at the school level,” Dash told the media.

In line with the CM’s vision, the minister said a new curriculum will be designed with focus on sports and physical education classes. Besides, schools will identify young sports talents.

The department has also issued guidelines for allocation of sports grants of Rs 5,000 to primary schools, Rs 10,000 to upper primary schools and Rs 25,000 to secondary and senior secondary schools every academic year.

He said the government has also initiated a process for recruitment of physical education teachers at high school-level. The Finance Department has approved the proposal for appointment of 4,445 PET, Hindi and Sanskrit teachers.